Lost Little Slayer
by Sinfully Soulful
Summary: Dawn dies instead of Buffy during The Gift. Buffy leaves Sunnydale and goes to LA.
1. Runaway

Willow walked into Buffy's bedroom. "Buffy? I brought you some dinner." Willow slowly opened the door to her best friends room.

            Buffy was no where to be found. There was a note on her bed.

            ~ Willow, Xander and Giles

                        I had to leave. I can't stay any longer. I need to go and clear my mind. I need to reflect and decide on what I'm going to do now. I'll be back soon. I'll call you once I get a chance to. I don't know where I'm going yet, but I'll be fine. 

                        I really want to thank you all for all your support and love over the years and how much you have all been there for me. I really appreciate it. I just need to do this on my own. I didn't do this in person because I knew if I did I wouldn't leave and I really need to. Sorry I had to do it this way but you know I'm a coward.  Good bye and I love you all.

            Love Always

                        Buffy

            Willow put the note down and began sobbing. The door opened to reveal Xander and Giles.

            "Will? Where's the Buffster?", Xander asked as he and Giles entered the room.

            Willow looked up, eyes filled with tears. Xander and Giles moved closer to Willow. She held up the note and Giles read it then handed it to Xander. After Xander read the note he asked. "What do we do now?"

            "We keep the hellmouth safe until she comes back." Giles said looking at the two young people that had been so close and helpful to his slayer.

TBC


	2. Patrol Surprises

Los Angeles

            Angel walked the dark streets of LA. He had a weird fluttery feeling in his stomach, but he ignored it and kept walking. He looked across the street and saw a women enter a darken alleyway followed by two vampires . He followed slowly trying to keep unnoticed.

            When he got to the alleyway entrance he pulled out a stake and moved to help the 'helpless' young women.

            At least that was his plan. When he moved however he banged into someone, or something and immediately moved into a fighting stance.  

            The figured seemed to be somewhere else and kept moving, muttering a quick and low, "Sorry".

            Angel got this wired feeling of familiarity and reached for the women. "Are you ok?" Angel turned her around and let out a loud gasp. 

            "Buffy?"

            "Angel"

            "What are you doing here? Are you in trouble? Do you need help?" Angel was still having a hard time processing that his beloved was standing right in front of him. Especially because she looked different. Her hair was darker, and her eyes dark and sunken in. It looked as though she hadn't slept in weeks. Her body looked thin and unhealthy, she looked as though she hadn't eaten in a while too.

            "I'm fine. Bye" Buffy ran off. The last person she wanted to see was Angel. The last person she wanted to see her was Angel.

            Angel ran to catch up with her before she could get to far. She looked as though she was lost. *Buffy, lost? Nah*. "Buffy what happened to you?"

            "Nothing happened to me. I said I'm fine. I'm just passing through", she said getting a bit angry with all the questions.

            "Buffy, your obviously not fine. You look like you haven't eaten or slept in weeks. What's wrong?"

            "Nothing is wrong. Now if you don't mind I have somewhere to be."

            "Where are you going? Are you here visiting you dad?"

            "No! What's with all the questions? Is this the fucking inquisition?", she yelled. 

            Angel was aghast. He'd never heard her use that type of language not even with vampires. Something was seriously wrong.

            "No Buffy, this isn't an inquisition. I just want to help you." Angel didn't exactly know what she needed but he knew she needed something, and he would be dammed if he would just let her leave without helping her first.

            "I don't NEED or WANT your help Angel!" Buffy yelled rather harshly. Then she took a deep breath when she realized how mean she had just been to him. *He's just trying to help.* " Thank you for the offer but I'm fine Angel. I really need to go. I'll talk to you soon." She began moving again when he stopped her.

            "You need somewhere to stay?" Angel didn't know what had come over him but he refused to leave her to wander the city alone in the dark. *She used to live in LA and she's the slayer you idiot. She doesn't need you to protect her.* 

            Buffy stopped and faced him. Confusion clearly written across her now hard features. 

            "I own a hotel. You can grab a room for the night. Get a meal, a shower and maybe some sleep? You can leave in the morning if you want. Or you could stay as long as you need, or want to." Angel wasn't sure what he was doing but it seemed right.

            " I don't know Angel."

            " Listen. No strings attached. You can stay and eat, shower get some sleep and that's it. You don't have to talk to me or anyone else if you don't want, and I'm not gonna grill you on why you're here. Just put my undead heart to rest by staying with me. I need to know your ok."

            "Angel I'm fine. There's no need to worry. I'm just on a short vacation from all things hellmouthy." *Ok so that was a lie.  I left my friends and my duty, again. My sister is dead and so is my mom. I no longer have a reason to live and fight.* 

            "Come on Buffy. Please just stay. One night that's all I'm asking." Angel pleaded with her. He didn't want to leave her alone here. 

            Buffy just nodded and they walked to the hotel in silence.


	3. Finding Old Friends

Hyperion Hotel- LA  
  
"Angel?" Cordy said when she heard the lobby door open.  
"Yeah Cor it's me." Angel replied as he and Buffy entered the hotel.  
Buffy gave him a look to say "you've done good for yourself", and smiled.  
Cordy came out and was surprised to see Angel wasn't alone. He was with… "Buffy. Hi." Cordelia smiled and gave Angel a look of pure confusion.  
"Buffy's gonna spend the night here." It was one of Angel's statements that you knew left no room for argument.  
"Oh." Is all Cordelia could say.  
"Come on Buffy. Let's fix up a room for you and then we'll get you something to eat."  
Suddenly the lobby door opened. Gunn and Wesley walked in with bags of food in their hands.  
Gunn and Wesley noticed Buffy and stopped in their tracks. "Anne?" Gunn asked.  
Buffy's eyes lit up for the first time that night and it didn't go unnoticed by Angel. She ran toward Gunn and right into his open arms. They embraced each other as though they had known each other, and it had been years since they last spoke.   
"Charles. God Charles I thought you were dead. I was looking all over for you." Buffy said as she planted a large kiss on his cheek.  
"Anne. God I've missed you so much. How are you? What are you doing here?" Gunn asked. He was still shocked that she was actually there.   
"I've missed you too. I had to leave. I had to get some down time. I thought maybe I could stay with you for a while."  
"Yeah sure anything. I'm here for you Anne." Gunn said reassuringly.  
"Anne?" Cordy, Angel and Wesley said in unison.  
That brought Buffy and Gunn back to reality.   
"Oh. Yeah that's my middle name." Buffy answered shyly.  
"Your middle name? What's your first name then?", Gunn asked.  
"Buffy."  
"Buffy? As in Buffy, Angel's ex love. The slayer of the hellmouth. Cordy's ex high school friend? English's last slayer?"  
"Yes to the Angel thing. Not really to the Cordy thing and kinda to the Wesley thing."  
"Excuse me. But how do you two know each other?" Wesley was still clueless and by the looks on Cordy and Angel's faces, he wasn't the only one.  
"Oh well we met when I was in LA."  
"When you lived here?" Angel asked.  
"Or when you ran away after sending Angel to hell?" Cordy asked bluntly.  
"When I ran away." Buffy really didn't want to discuss this, but she knew there really wasn't any way out of it.  
"Yeah Anne, I mean Buffy saved me and some friends from a gang of vamps. After that we formed our group and starting saving people."  
Buffy turned back towards Gunn with pride in her eyes. "How's Alana and the guys?"  
Gunn's smile faded quickly. "Alana was turned. I staked her. Ray was drained." Gunn replied sadly.  
"Oh God. Charles. I'm so sorry." She moved toward him and gave him a kiss on the cheeks and pulled him into a hug.  
" Yeah so am I."  
"So. Anyone hungry?" Wesley asked. Everyone began to move toward the counter. Gunn pulled Buffy along with him. Wesley ran upstairs and dropped off Fred's food at her room.  
  
After dinner and some meaningless chit-chat everyone was gathered in the lobby. Gunn and Buffy sat next to each other on the round sofa in the middle of the lobby. Cordy sat on the counter, Angel and Wesley on the stairs. Gunn and Buffy were telling the them about her time in LA.   
"God. I had to much fun that night." Buffy said.   
"Please I'm surprised we were able to get you out. You'd spent all your time in that crappy apartment of yours, when you weren't working". He added.   
"Yeah well. I wanted to stay as far away from George as possible. He was always hitting on me." She said with a smile. "How is George anyways?" She asked rather wryly. She didn't want to hit another sour spot with Gunn.  
"He's doing pretty well actually. When I started hanging with Angel here, I left him to run stuff. I see him every once in an awhile on the streets. I give them some money, every now and then. Well I try to anyways, you know George." He said with a slight smile on his face.  
Angel just watched his love and his friend talking. Gunn had a smile in his eyes, he'd never seen before. * If I didn't know any better I'd think he was in love with her. * * Why wouldn't he? She's attractive and sweet, why wouldn't he love her? How couldn't he? * * Stop it. They're just friends. Like Xander and she. * * Wait! Not good. Xander loves Buffy. * He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of his name.  
"Angel? Angel you alright?" He heard Buffy call.  
"Oh yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking." He said. He looked up at her and he noticed she seemed much more at ease, much more relaxed then when he first saw her earlier in the ally.  
"Well, I'm gonna spend the night at Gunn's. I was looking for him anyways, and now that I found him, I'm just gonna leave you alone." She said getting her bag off the floor by the stairs where she had left it.  
"Oh umm, sure whatever you want."  
"Thank you." She said. They hugged shortly and then she moved back towards Gunn's side. "Ready to go?"  
"Yeah. I'll see you all tomorrow morning. By Angel, Cor, English."  
He waved to his friends and left.   
Angel just sat there and looked at the door where his beloved had left with his friend.   
"Angel you okay?" Cordy asked as she came up and sat next to him.  
"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine. I just think I'm gonna take a shower and get some sleep." He said and got up. "Be careful on your way home Cor. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night." With that he climbed the stairs to his room for a little bit of brooding.  
"Great there he goes. Off to brood again. I hate when she comes." Cordy mumbled.  
"Cordy will you stop. I don't understand why you hate Buffy so much."  
"And I don't understand why you don't hate her more." She said getting up and moving toward her desk.  
"Why should I?" He asked following her.  
"Because she fired you. Plus you see what she does to Angel. She puts him through so much pain."  
"First of all, yes she did fire me, but I'm over that. She didn't need me to begin with and she had good cause to fire me. Secondly, she doesn't mean to put Angel in pain. You also must remember that he left her. Imagine how it must feel to know your life is naturally shortened by your destiny, then when you finally find someone you love you lose them. This can hardly be easy for her too. Also I don't think she planned on seeing Angel."  
"Please, she knew that she would run into Angel. He lives in LA and prowls the neighborhoods like the vamp he is. How did she expect to evade him?"  
"She was looking for Gunn. That's why she was in LA."  
"Whatever. I still don't like her." She grabbed her house key and jacket from her desk and headed towards the door.  
"Do you want a ride, Cordelia?" Wesley asked as he moved to the lobby doors.  
"Yeah thanks."


	4. Showers and Late Night Phone Calls

Gunn's Apartment  
  
"Home sweet home. I know it's not much and the place looks a wreck. Sorry." He said as he moved into the darkened apartment.  
"It's fine. Thanks a lot for letting me crash here."  
" Hey, it's fine. Just put your stuff in the bedroom. I'll sleep on the couch."  
"Gunn, no. I'll take the couch. You've done enough."  
"There is no way I'm letting you sleep on the couch."  
"I see I'm not going to win this one, so why don't we make a compromise?"  
"What kind?"  
"We share."  
"You sure?"  
"I'm positive. I don't feel right about having you on the couch. It is YOUR bed after all."  
"Fine by me."  
"Thanks. Now you think I could take a shower."  
"Yeah. Go ahead. There is an extra towel in the hall closet. The bathroom is down the hall on your left."  
"Thanks." Buffy grabbed her bag and went to clean up.  
  
A few minutes later  
  
"God that felt so good." Buffy said, coming out of the bathroom. Her hair still wet. She was dressed in some gray sweatpants and a wife-beater.  
"Glad you enjoyed it." He replied from his spot on the couch.  
"Thanks again."  
"No prob. What are friends for anyways? Come on and join me. Let's see what's on the tube."  
"Okay." She placed the towel on the back of a stool in the kitchenette and moved to sit with him.  
"Let's see what's on." He said and began flicking through channels.  
  
Hyperion Hotel  
  
Angel was trying his hardest to sleep, but was losing. He could not get the look of complete joy in Gunn's eyes, out of his head. "What the hell is wrong with me?" He said to himself.  
Suddenly the phone rang.  
"Hello?"  
"Hello. Angel? It's Rupert. Rupert Giles."  
"Hi, Giles. What's up?" He asked sitting up in his bed. * Maybe he will tell me what happened to Buffy. *  
"I'm sorry to call you so late."  
"No problem. What's up?"  
" It's Buffy. I was wondering if you had, by any chance, seen her lately."  
"What happened? Did she run away?"  
"Actually, in a way she did, a few days ago. We haven't heard from her, and we hoped you had."  
"I have. I saw her earlier on this evening. Giles what happened to her?"  
" You did. Oh that's great. Is she with you? Can I speak with her?"  
"No. She's not here Giles. She's at a friends house."  
"A friend?"  
"Yeah, a co-worker of mine. They met when she ran away three summers ago. She's staying with him."  
"Oh."  
"Giles, what happened to her? She looks like she'd been through hell."  
" She didn't tell you."  
"Tell me what Giles, what's wrong. What happened?"  
"It's not really my place to tell you. If she wants you to know, she should be the one to tell you."  
"Giles, just tell me."  
Giles just let out a heavy sigh. "Very well. However, you must not let her know I told you. I'm positive she doesn't want pity."  
"Alright, Giles just tell me." He pleaded with the old man. * Old that's a concept. I'm about five times his age. *  
"Dawn died, last week."  
"What? Oh god. What happened?"  
" There was a Hell God. Glory. She needed Dawn. See Dawn isn't/ wasn't human. She was a blob of energy, known as the key. Glory needed her to open the doors to her dimension, to get back home, if you will. Anyways, in order to open the door, she needed to bleed Dawn. Dawn died. We were unable to rescue her. Buffy was devastated. Finally, a few days ago, she left. Told us she needed some time to think, and would contact us as soon as possible. We haven't heard anything yet so we thought to try you."  
"God. God, I can't."  
"I know. It's hard."  
"Poor Buffy. I mean first Joyce now Dawn."  
"Yes it is horrible."  
"It must be."  
"I must go now Angel. If you see Buffy tell her to contact us. And that we love her."  
"I will."  
"Thank you. Good night, sorry to bother you."  
"It's quite alright. Goodnight Giles, say hello for me."  
"I will. You do the same."  
They hung up.  
Angel put the phone down and just stared off into space. * Dawn is dead. God, Buffy must be so devastated. No wonder she looks so sad. * 


	5. Visions and Confessions

The Next Morning at AI.  
  
"Hey guys." Gunn said as he and Buffy walked into the lobby of the Hyperion.  
"Morning." Buffy chimed.  
"Good morning, Buffy, Gunn." Wesley said as he took a sip of his coffee.  
"Yo, English. Where's Barbie?" Gunn asked as he went over to his desk.  
"She hasn't arrived.." He started.  
"My name's not Barbie!" Cordy said as she entered the lobby.  
"Chill Cordy. You know I love you." He amended sweetly. He gave her a big smile and a wink.  
"Oh please. Don't try to charm your way into my good graces. It's been a long morning and it's not even 10." She said as she moved to get some coffee.  
"Hi, Cor." Buffy said as Gunn handed her a cup of coffee.  
"Hey, Buff."  
"Cordelia, are you ok?" Wesley asked. "You look a bit worse for wear."  
"Oh thanks." She said sarcastically.  
" I'm sorry. You just look, well not of the good, for lack of a better term."  
" I know. I'm sorry Wes. I had a mind numbing vision this morning. Not what I'd call a welcomed wake-up call."  
"Oh. Sorry. Well why don't you tell me about it?"  
"Actually. I need to talk to Angel first. Is he up?"  
"Not at the moment, he should be getting up soon. It's almost 10."  
"I'll go wake up Batman." She started up the stairs and up to his room.  
"Jeez, must be important if she doesn't want to talk to us." Gunn said.  
"Well you know they have that weird, seer/ warrior bond." Wesley stated. " So, Buffy. You look better today." He added.  
"Thanks. I haven't been getting enough sleep since, well in a while."  
"Yeah, well I figured as much, when you started snoring like a baby." Gunn said. He gave her a shy smile.  
"I do not snore." She said a bit upset. "Do I?" She asked weakly.  
"Well sometimes. But I think it's cute." Angel said as he came down the stairs.  
The three friends turned to see Angel coming down the stairs, Cordelia right behind him.  
"Thanks." Buffy said.  
"Morning all." Angel said as he went to the mini fridge and pulled out a packet of blood.  
"Here you go." Cordy said as she handed him a mug.  
"Thanks. So Buffy, how are you?"  
"Right as rain, whatever that means."  
Angel's head snapped up at the remark. * Didn't she say that, after I broke up with her? *  
Buffy just smiled at him. "I'm doing better. I finally got some decent sleep last night."  
"Well I'm glad to hear it." He said as he downed his blood.  
"So Cordelia, do you wish to share your vision with us now?" Wesley asked from his desk.  
Cordy glanced at Buffy then at Angel. "Not really."  
"Buffy could I have a word with you?" Angel asked as he moved toward her.  
"Have a sentence." She said with a smile.  
"Come on, smart ass." He said as he moved toward his office.  
  
Angel's Office  
"So, what you want to talk about?" She asked as he shut the door to his office.  
"Have a seat." He said as he moved to sit across from her.  
"Ok, Angel. What's going on?" She asked as she took the offered seat.  
"Well it's about you. And Cordy's vision."  
"What do I have to do with Cordy's vision?"  
"You were in it. And so was Dawn. I know about Dawn, Buffy."  
"What? How?" She started. A tear began to form behind her eyes but she pushed it back.  
"Giles called me last night. He wanted to know if I'd seen you. I asked him, and he reluctantly told me. Buffy why didn't you tell me?"  
"Why? What could you have done. It wouldn't have changed anything. Telling you wouldn't have brought back my sister."  
"I know Buffy. I just, thought you would have told me something like this. I could have been there for you. The way I was when your mom." He trailed off not wanting the memory of her mother to make this harder for her.  
"Angel. I know you want to help, but I don't want nor do I need help." She said, the tears in her eyes threatening to spill over.  
"Buffy, don't lie to me. I see it in your eyes. Your hurting and you know I hate to see you like this. Please talk to me."  
"What do you want me to say Angel? Yes I am hurting. I don't know why though, she wasn't my real sister. All I know is that it hurts and there isn't anything you or I, can do to stop the hurt."  
"Buffy just because she wasn't you real sister doesn't mean it shouldn't hurt. If it didn't then I'd be scared."  
"Angel what do I do? I don't have anyone to protect. I have no reason to fight anymore."  
"Yes you do. You fight for your friends, for the helpless people who can't fight for themselves."  
"My friends don't need my protection. They've learned how to protect themselves. And everyone else has you. They don't need me."  
"Stop that. Stop it. Your friends need you. You should have heard the sigh of relief when I told Giles I knew where you were. Besides I think there's enough evil in this world for the two of us."  
"I just. God, Angel. It's just so hard."  
"I know. I know it is. But you're a strong women. You can get through this. You WILL get through this. And I'll help you."  
"Thank you Angel."  
"No problem."  
"Come on let's go and get you something to eat."  
"Thank you."  
Angel got up and moved toward her. He pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her forehead. "No matter what happens, or what you think, I will ALWAYS be here for you. You can always come to me."  
"I know. Thank you."  
They hugged a while longer and then went back outside. 


	6. Poor Dawn

"Everything okay now?" Cordy asked when the two exited Angel's office.  
"Yeah." Buffy said with a sad smile,  
"Buffy, you alright?" Gunn asked. Cordy had told him and Wesley about Dawn.  
"Yeah. I'm fine." She told him.  
Gunn didn't believe her but he didn't want to push the subject any further. By the looks of it, she didn't feel like talking right now, so he shrugged it off. "Okay."  
"I.. I umm. I need to go." Buffy said to them.  
"What? Buffy, what's wrong?" Angel asked, bewildered by her announcement.  
"I need to go see my dad. He should know." She said.  
"Do you want someone to go with you?" Angel asked.  
"No. I'll be fine. Actually can I use your computer for a few? I need to find him first." She asked Cordy.  
"Yeah no problem. When was the last time you saw your dad?" She asked moving from her seat in front of her computer so that Buffy could get on.  
"Ummm. The summer after I died. I think." She thought about it. "Yeah that's it."  
"That was like four years ago. Jeez." Cordy replied.  
"Yup. I don't even know if he's even in the country. When my mom died I called him but his secretary said he was away on business in Spain." She told them.  
"That was like two months ago. You still haven't heard from him?" Angel asked.  
"Nope." She answered. "You know what? Screw him!" She said loudly.  
Everyone just looked at her shocked. No one had ever heard her speak like that, not even when she was killing demons.  
"What?" Angel asked.  
"Fuck him. He doesn't need to know, Dawn's dead. Shit, he didn't care about her well being when she WAS alive, why should he care now?" She said. "Besides it ain't like that's her REAL father." She continued. "Lucky her." She mumbled.  
"Buffy, real or not, he should know." Angel told her putting a hand on her shoulder.  
"Why? He wouldn't care anyways." She told him.  
"I'm sure he would, Buffy." Wesley interjected. "That is after all his daughter."  
"Hank doesn't give a fuck about ME, and I'm his REAL daughter, why would her care about Dawn?"  
"Yeah but he doesn't know that Dawn's not his real daughter." Wesley pointed out.  
"Yes he does." She said solemnly.  
"Huh?" Gunn asked confused.  
"Dawn is the result of my moms affair." She told them.  
"Your mom cheated on your dad?" Cordy asked shocked.  
"Yeah. Mom caught dad having sex with his secretary in their bed and went out and got plastered. She had a one night stand with some random guy she met at a bar and Dawn was the result of that. Dad was furious. At first mom told him that it was HIS child she was carrying, but Dawn's blue eyes made dad suspicious, no one in either of my parents families has ever had blue eyes, so he asked to have a paternity test done. Turned out that Dawn wasn't Hanks. Mom explained to Hank that she thought it was his, even though she had had an affair. She explained how she found him sleeping with some slut and they patched things up. They swore never to tell Dawn that Hank wasn't her REAL father. Couple years later they got divorced and me and Dawn went with mom's to Sunnydale." She explained.  
"Oh man. Poor Dawn. She never knew her real dad." Cordy said sadly.  
"Yeah what sucks even more is that the dad she did have was never much of a dad to begin with. Man was ALWAYS drunk. Always getting home at ridiculous hours. Away on business trips for weeks at a time. He was constantly yelling at us, telling us that we were spoiled, and I'll admit, we where, but what the hell did he expect when he gave us everything we asked for. I mean how do you expect your kids not to be spoiled if you give them everything they want, when they want it? He just wasn't cut out to be a dad is all." 


	7. Stories are Just Stories

"Buffy, you do realize that whole story you told us about Dawn being a result of your mom's affair is just that… a story. It never happened because Dawn was never 'born'." Angel told his love.

Buffy contemplated that for a while. "I never thought of that before. It kind of makes me wonder where the monks that made Dawn came up with that story and why they would use something that could mess up my family."

"Maybe Joyce had an affair and they used this as a way for her to get pregnant." Wesley brought up.

"But then why didn't they just make her actually Hanks?" Cordelia asked.

"Maybe cause my dad couldn't have anymore kids." Buffy said. "She told me that one of the reasons my parents got a divorce was cause my dad couldn't father anymore children and she wanted at least three."

"Yeah your mom always seems like the kind of lady that wanted a boat load of kids. Maybe that's why she never had issues with us always over there." Cordelia injected.

"Yeah. She always said she wanted a big family." Buffy said sadly, thinking of her mother.

"Buffy… I'm really sorry about your mom. When Giles called us and told us… I was kind of sad. Not just for you but… your mom… she was always so nice to me… to all of us. Even after Xander and I broke up, she'd see me on the streets and stop to say 'hello' and ask me how I was doing in school and how my family was. I really miss her actually. Which is weird cause you and I were never really close, but she was a really nice lady. I guess what I wanted to say is just that… well I'm really sorry." Cordelia ended lamely.

"Thank you Cordy."


	8. Sharing Friends

"So… what kind of demons do I get to hit today?" Gunn asked the group, drawing

attention off the uncomfortable topic.

"As far as I can tell… we have no cases." Wesley informed his colleague.

"Wow. Here I thought Angel was running a successful business." Buffy said

sarcastically.

"Hush your mouth." Angel said looking over at the blonde. "Something will turn up."

"Has anyone spoken to Fred?" Wesley asked his friends.

"Nope, she's been locked up in that room since we got back from Pylea." Cordelia

informed them.

"Who's Fred?" Buffy asked.

"She's a girl Angel rescued from a demon dimension" Gunn told her.

"Oh."

"Yes and boy oh boy did that cute little girl need it. Poor thing." Came a voice from

behind the group.

Everyone turned around to see….

"Lorne?" Buffy screamed running to the flamboyantly dressed demon, wrapping her arms

around his neck. "Oh god Lorne, I was hoping to see you. I was going to stop by Caritas

to see you."

"Hey honeysuckle, long time no see. How you doing?" Lorne asked as he fixed his suite.

"I'm going okay. How have you been?"

"Better now that I'm back in this dimension and not home."

"Pylea right? Wait…" She turned back to Angel and the gang. "Isn't that where you

rescued Fred from?"

"Yeah… is there anybody I work with you DIDN'T know before I did?" Angel asked his

ex.

"Highly unlikely." She answered moving back down toward the group.

"How do you too know each other?" Wesley asked.

"From when you came down here a few years ago?" Gunn asked.

"No, from when I was living here."

"This sad little sunshine came to my bar one day looking for a drink."

"It was right after my first watcher, Merrick, died. I had heard rumors of the place from

the demon community. I went to Caritas looking for a drink and maybe a fight. Lorne

refused to give my alcohol and instead served me a coke."

"Did you sing?" Cordy asked.

"No. See did not. But I didn't need her to sing to know what was wrong with her."

"So he gave me some advice and sent me on my way."

"When she came back to LA a few years ago, she stopped in looking for a drink again.

Instead a gave her a coke and did the same."

"That's when you decided to head back home?" Gunn asked.

"Yeah, Lorne's the reason I left."

"Damn Lorne, why you gotta be messin' up my flow."

"Sorry kid, but she needed to go home, and get this big guy back. Look how it all worked

out."

"Yeah I guess." Gunn grumbled.

"So… honey pie, what you doing back in this neck of the woods?"

"Dawn." Buffy said as she looked down at the floor, trying to keep a tear from leaking

from her eyes.

"How is the pint sized Buffy?"

"Dead."

"Oh man… sorry cutie. I really am." He said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's cool. What's done is done."

"So again, I'll ask. What are you doing here?"

"Well…" she looked around at the gang. " Can we go somewhere and talk?" She asked

turning around to face the demon.

"Sure honey… where do you want to go."

Gunn pulled out his keys and tossed them to Buffy. "Here, go to my place."

Buffy smiled up at her friend. "Thank you Gunn. I'll be back later." She told him as she

and Lorne left the hotel.

"Poor Buffy… she can never get a break from all the pain and heartache." Cordelia said

sadly as she sat back down at her computer.

"I wish there were something we could do for her." Wesley added as he moved over to

replace a dagger he had been cleaning earlier, into the weapons cabinet.

"I think Lorne is the only one right now who can. Maybe there'll be something we can do

later, but right now I think she needs him first." Angel said as he pulled a packet of blood

from the fridge.

Gunn just looked over at the door where Buffy had left with the Host. There has to be

something I can do for her.


End file.
